Jacksonville Jaguars: 3 horrible stats that defined loss to Texans

Houston Texans RB Phillip Lindsay (30) at NRG Stadium. (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)
Houston Texans RB Phillip Lindsay (30) at NRG Stadium. (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports) /
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Jacksonville Jaguars
Houston Texans RB Mark Ingram (2) and Jacksonville Jaguars DB Andrew Wingard #42 (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports) /

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Houston Texans in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season. Now, nobody expected the Jags to go undefeated, and if you know someone who does, tell them there may be a bridge in Brooklin he may be interested in buying.

The problem isn’t that the Jaguars lost but rather that they did it in an embarrassing fashion. Their offense couldn’t keep up with the Texans and their defense had no answers for quarterback Tyrod Taylor. Looking back, there are many things that went wrong. In particular, three stats explain why Jacksonville dropped their first game of the season.

1. The Jacksonville Jaguars couldn’t tackle.

The Jaguars allowed a 63.7 percent completion rate against Houston. There are some passes you will never come close to defending but if you allow them, at least tackle the player that caught the ball. The Jags’ inability to defend the pass was concerning but so was their dreadful tackling.

In total, Jacksonville’s defense missed nine tackles in Week 1. Many times, players were in a good position to make plays but instead of stopping the Texans cold, they gifted them a fresh set of downs. Cornerback C.J. Henderson missed two tackles and so did defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton.

One of the Jaguars’ most egregious missed tackles came near the end of the second quarter. The Jaguars were trailing 20-7 and the Texans had the ball on their own 40-yard line. On third-and-1, Taylor dropped back and Chaisson could have brought him down. Instead, he missed the tackle and allowed the quarterback to complete a 52-yard reception to wide receiver Brandin Cooks that set Houston’s next touchdown pass, which gave them a 27-7 lead before halftime.

Cornerback Shaquill Griffin gave up the reception but if Chaisson had sacked Taylor, the Jags would’ve killed the drive and would have gone into halftime trailing a more manageable 13 points instead of 20.